My Letter to an Inventor Requesting Invention Assistance

In the 1990s, I successfully marketed several outdoors sports products gaining inclusion of them for retail sales through Wal-Mart, Bass Pro Shops and Cabela's, among many other outlets. Recently, I was considering going into inventor consultation for a small fee but after careful consideration, I decided not to follow through.

I share this because it demonstrates the reason why many invention companies and firms, charge upfront fees for their services and why they require signed agreements in advance of performing them. I believe this also helps to reveal the fact that required fees for this type of assistance, does not necessarily point to dishonest or unethical practices on the part of these type companies (some people believe they should only be paid if an invention is successfully licensed). With this said, it is still very important to check the background and conduct research on companies one is considering for contract assistance with their inventions.

My Letter to the Inventor

"Dear Inventor,

First, I want to let you know that I placed real consideration into becoming a consultant for inventors but I've decided I'm not going to enter that field. Since you explained to me your concern about someone ripping you off (it's a good fear to have), let me relate some experiences that will help you to see my reasons for being reluctant to work with inventors, respectfully.

In the 1990s, I had several inventors contact me, wanting me to help them with getting their inventions marketed, after seeing my outdoors products on the market, in stores like Wal-Mart and Bass Pro Shops. I did not advertise wanting to help anyone, they simply saw ads in different catalogs and magazines, that featured my products and found my contact information. One of these guys had a fish measuring device -- an adhesive ruler you stick to the side of your fishing rod and you can then hold fish against it to measure them, without having to retrieve another item from your tackle box. I agreed to help him for a percentage on sales and I immediately got his new item into the Academy Stores chain (60 stores). In the mean time, I was submitting his invention to other outlets and my phone expense built into the 100s of dollars. My time spent was considerable and I believe I received a total of $80.00 in commissions because he at one point decided my percent for the services, based on his sales (at 5% if I remember correctly), was cutting too much into his profit. That's gratitude for getting him into a large chain!

Another man in Arkansas invented a deer lure and he contacted me, wanting help with marketing it. Again, my expenses built up to 100s of dollars, due to phone expense and time-involved. He eventually decided he wanted to drop marketing of the invention because he didn't have the money to invest into further development of it including packaging, materials to manufacture it etc..., and so he dropped it and left me with my expenses.

This is why I decided to have a set way to consult with inventors but as of this week I've decided I'm not going to follow through with it (after reflection of past experiences) and I will not likely be considering doing it again in the future. I had the fee set low on the consultation I was considering offering to inventors, for a number of reasons. I did not want to add much expense to an already struggling inventor and I wanted my help to be more cost-effective than that of an invention company, who often charge clients in the 1,000s of dollars. My suspicion after laying out the plan to be a consultant to inventors was that inventors, who contracted with me, would likely go outside of the detailed, contract list of what I'm able to do for the fee and they would expect a great deal more from me, despite the very low cost and the time I'm able to commit for nominal compensation.

All of this brought me to a better understanding as to why invention companies set high fee requirements and why they are very specific as to what an inventor's fee will actually be purchasing. There is a lot of negative information online, regarding the scams and bogus practices of invention companies however, I can see where in some cases, clients can also be unreasonable. This is why I would suggest finding a reputable, honest company to assist you and one that has the ability and who is set up to professionally perform everything required of them contractually.

I am sorry I could not help you further but I do hope this information has been helpful."